Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Bets Big On India's AI Future, Opens Bengaluru Office As Claude Faces US Military Scrutiny At Home

On Thursday, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)-backed Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei struck an optimistic tone in India.

Anthropic Expands In India With New Bengaluru Office

Speaking at AI Impact Summit 2026, Amodei said that AI progress over the past two-and-a-half years has been "absolutely staggering."

Anthropic this week opened a new office in Bengaluru, marking its second location in the Asia-Pacific region. The company has underscored India's importance as its second-largest market for Claude.

Anthropic also named Irina Ghose as managing director for India and announced partnerships with companies including Infosys.

At the summit, Amodei said Anthropic is evaluating Claude's performance across India's regional languages and local use cases.

He also reiterated his belief that AI is advancing exponentially and could soon surpass most human cognitive abilities in many domains.

The CEO described the coming era as akin to "a country of geniuses in a data center," while acknowledging risks tied to misuse, economic disruption and autonomous behavior.

Pentagon Scrutiny Over Claude's Military Use

The India push comes as Anthropic faces reported friction with the U.S. Department of Defense over how its AI tools can be deployed. According to reports, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is weighing whether to end certain ties with the company.

As per the report, Anthropic may soon be formally designated as a "supply chain risk."

Anthropic Raises $30 Billion In Funding

Earlier this month, Anthropic announced a $30 billion funding round, boosting its valuation to $380 billion.

In December 2025, venture capital firm Menlo Ventures said Anthropic had surpassed ChatGPT-maker OpenAI as the leader in enterprise AI, accounting for about 40% of enterprise large language model spending, up from 24% in 2024.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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